Syllabus

Module 1: Introduction to Biolinguistics & Early Language Theories
Definition and scope of Biolinguistics
Interdisciplinary connections: Linguistics, Biology, Genetics, Neuroscience
Early language theories and their limitations
Cognitivism

Module 2: Language and Mind
Chomsky's theory of Language Development
Eric Lenneberg’s Biological Foundations of Language
First vs. second language acquisition
Brain lateralization

Module 3: Neurobiology of Language
Brain areas and language
Bilingualism and cognitive effects
Introduction to brain imaging techniques
Brain plasticity and neurodevelopment

Module 4: Genetic of language and Language Disorders
Introduction to Genetics
Language Disorders and Genes
Autism and language
Case Study

Module 5: Evolution of Language
Why and how did language evolve?
The Minimalist Program and the Strong Minimalist Thesis (Chomsky)
FOXP2 and other genes in the evolution
Selective comparison with animal communication

To help students understand what biolinguistics is and how it connects language with biology, neuroscience, and genetics.

To learn how humans acquire language, with a focus on early childhood, critical learning periods, and bilingualism

To study how the brain supports language, including which areas are involved and how brain imaging shows this.

To understand how genes influence language ability and how genetic issues can lead to language disorders.

Understand what biolinguistics is and how it connects language with biology, neuroscience, and
genetics through real-world examples and case studies.

Explore major language theories, such as Chomsky’s Universal Grammar and Lenneberg’s ideas,
and discuss their relevance using practical case discussions.

Learn how language might have evolved, with a focus on key genes like FOXP2 and minimalist
grammar, supported by selected evolutionary case studies.

Explain how children and adults learn language, comparing first and second language learning
with help from brain and learning-related case studies.

Identify important brain areas involved in language, like Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, and
understand how brain imaging and case studies reveal their roles.

Chomsky, Noam (2006), Language and Mind (3rd ed.), MIT

Lenneberg, Eric, The Biological Foundations of Languge, John Wiley and Sons

Hauser, M.D., Chomsky, N., & Fitch, W.T. , The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve? , Science Adviser

Fitch, W. Tecumseh , The Evolution of Language., Cambridge University Press

Pinker, Steven , The Language Instinct., Harper Perennial

Berwick, Robert C., & Chomsky, Noam (2016)., Why Only Us: Language and Evolution., MIT Press.

Jackendoff, Ray , Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution, Oxford University Press

Friederici, Angela D, Language in Our Brain: The Origins of a Uniquely Human Capacity, MIT Press.

Tomasello, Michael , Origins of Human Communication, MIT Press.